This invention relates to a connector for connecting a thin sheet member, such as a flexible flat cable (FFC) or a flexible printed board (FPC), to an electronic apparatus or the like.
A connector of the type is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. H11-135203 and comprises an upper-side member and a lower-side member disposed on an upper surface and a lower surface of a FPC, respectively, and coupled to each other. The FPC has a front end face which is exposed without being covered with the upper-side and the lower-side members. Accordingly, when the connector is connected to a mating connector, the mating connector may possibly collide with the front end face of the FPC to separate or peel off the FPC.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2003-243071 discloses another connector for connecting a FPC. The connector has a structure covering a front end face of the FPC. With this structure, there is a less risk of separation of the FPC by collision of a mating connector when the connector is connected to the mating connector.
However, the FPC is provided with a through hole for reliably fixing the FPC to the connector. Due to the presence of the through hole, conductor wires of the FPC are partly interrupted. As a result, the number of signal lines is decreased as compared with a FPC having a same width and no through hole.
On the other hand, proposal has been made of a thin sheet member comprising a thin sheet base member having a flat upper surface and a flat lower surface faced to each other, a plurality of conductor wires disposed on the upper surface, and a shield layer disposed on the lower surface. The thin sheet member may be used in a state where the shield layer is electrically connected to at least one of the conductor wires via at least one through hole between the upper and the lower surfaces of the base member. In this state, the conductor wire connected to the shield layer is used as a ground line while the remaining conductor wires are used as signal lines. Therefore, the number of the conductor wires used as the signal lines is reduced.
In any event, it is unfavorable for reduction in size of the connector to form a through hole in a flat member such as a FFC or a FPC and to use a conductor wire as a ground line because the number of signal lines is reduced.